THE  NEGRO 


An  Asset  of  the 
American  Nation 


by  ‘Rodney  JV.  Roundy 

Associate  Secretary 

Home  Missions  Council 


756  Tifth  Avenue , New  York  City 


Foreword 

The  Negro  in  America  is  commonly  looked  upon  in 
terms  of  problem.  His  background  of  slavery,  the  com- 
mon prejudice  continuing  through  the  years,  the  sensa- 
tional methods  of  the  press  in  luridly  painting  his 
misdeeds  and  weaknesses  have  continuously  strengthened 
this  impression.  The  mission  of  this  leaflet  is  to  state 
the  Christian  point  of  view  in  positive  terms  of  accomp- 
lishment and  promise.  The  writer's  purpose  will  be 
achieved  if  this  analysis  helps  in  the  attainment  of 
balanced  judgment  among  Christian  men  and  women. 


R.  W.  R. 


The  Negro — 

An  Asset  of  the  American  Nation 

This  year  marks  the  three  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  the  “bleak  New  England 
Coast.”  Not  only  Congregationalists  but  leaders  of 
Protestantism  in  Holland,  England  and  the  United 
States  will  appropriately  and  significantly  observe  the 
Pilgrim  Tercentenary.  In  schools,  churches,  public 
gatherings  and  the  secular  and  religious  press  worthy 
tribute  will  be  paid  to  the  rich  contribution  which  the 
Pilgrim  faith  has  made  nationally  to  our  own  industrial, 
civic,  intellectual  and  religious  life.  There  will  be  an 
interdenominational  observance  of  this  great  event.  In 
seventy  centers  of  America,  leaders  in  all  walks  of  life 
will  fittingly  recall  the  high  values  of  Pilgrim  ideas  and 
ideals  as  also  the  achievements  directly  traceable  from 
the  essential  qualities  of  Pilgrim  character. 

The  Negro  has  been  an  American  one  year  longer  than 
the  Pilgrim.  The  narrative  of  John  Rolfe  records  that 
“about  the  last  of  August,  1619,  came  in  a Dutch  Man  of 
Warre,  that  sold  us  twenty  Negars.”  Last  year  was  his 
Tercentenary.  There  has  been  no  public  notice  paid  to  this 
fact.  No  interdenominational  gatherings  nor  international 
programs  were  planned  or  executed.  Rather  was  it  a 
grim  year  of  awful  record  in  race  clashes,  race  riots  and 
the  sway  of  Lynch  law.  The  Negro,  who  came  not  to 
this  land  of  his  own  will  or  wish,  on  the  three  hundredth 
anniversary  of  his  arrival  has  received  treatment  of  a 
kind  to  bring  a blush  of  shame  to  every  American  who 
cherishes  Pilgrim  ideals  of  righteousness,  of  freedom 
under  law  and  of  decent  Christian  living.  A record  year 
in  the  crime  of  lynching  is  the  tragedy  of  the  Negro’s 
Tercentenary.  The  riots  of  Chicago,  Washington,  Omaha, 
Knoxville,  Longview,  Tex.,  and  Elaine,  Arkansas,  the 
lynchings  at  many  points  in  the  Southland,  the  sixty 
bombings  of  Negro  property  in  Chicago  with  only  two 
arrests  and  no  convictions,  have  been  the  unplanned 
horrible  way  of  celebrating  not  locally  but  nationally  his 
landing  on  the  shores  of  the  Old  Dominion  State. 

Yet  I venture  the  assertion  that  the  American  sense  of 
fairness  requires  from  us,  especially  from  those  who  owe 
most  to  American  ideas,  American  institutions,  American 
ideals  an  appreciation  of  that  earlier  Pilgrim  who  came 
to  Jamestown  In  1619.  I propose  an  appraisal  of  the 
Negro’s  value  to  this  country  as  an  asset  to  our  American 
nation.  In  writing  as  I do  I am  not  unconscious  of  the 


Negro’s  handicaps,  his  needs,  his  immaturities.  But  I 
propose  a positive  rather  than  a negative  appraisal  of 
his  worth.  His  faults  are  patent ; his  elements  of  strength 
need  emphasis. 

The  Negro  is  an  Asset  of  Loyalty 

Loyal?  Of  course  the  American  Negro  is  loyal.  He 
has  no  other  thought  than  loyalty.  In  the  rising  tide  of 
war,  despite  provocation  and  the  subtle  temptations  of 
a wily  enemy,  German  propaganda  fell  absolutely  flat 
when  America  was  calling  for  enlistments.  What  a day 
followed  for  the  Negro ! How  whole  heartedly  he  entered 
into  raising  crops!  How  he  did  rejoice  in  co-operation 
with  the  white  folks  in  Red  Cross  work,  community 
welfare,  “Thrift  savings”  and  “Liberty  loans.”  $7,000,000 
among  the  Philadelphia  Negroes  alone  were  raised  for 
the  various  loans.  Some  quotas  never  would  have  been 
raised  but  for  the  co-operation  of  Negro  citizens.  And 
the  armistice  signed,  how  great  was  the  set  back  when 
at  many  points  North  and  South  hatred  was  let  loose  in 
the  attempts  of  bigoted  white  men  to  “teach  the  Nigger 
his  place”!  He  believed  that  simple  justice  demanded 
different  treatment  than  was  received.  He  longed,  he 
yearned,  he  prayed  to  hear  a voice  from  the  White  House, 
that  voice  that  had  urged  fairness  to  small  nations,  urging 
justice  toward  his  race  which  had  served  and  suffered 
with  all  other  Americans.  Did  he  turn  Bolshevistic? 
Was  there  not  cause?  Save  for  exceptional  individuals 
here  and  there,  a few  small  scattered  groups  in  large 
centers,  the  Negro  had  too  much  sense,  and  was  too 
loyal  to  think,  much  less  act  “red.”  The  Negro  is  not 
planning  to  upset  America’s  government  nor  America’s 
institutions.  He  is  not  a Bolshevist.  He  is  loyal.  He 
is  an  American. 


The  Negro  Always  a Patriot 

The  Negro  has  always  been  an  asset  of  patriotism  in 
time  of  war.  The  United  States  has  had  no  war  in 
which  he  did  not  play  his  part.  The  first  martyr  in  the 
Boston  massacre,  March  5,  1770,  was  of  mixed  Negro 
and  Indian  blood,  Crispus  Attucks.  The  Black  Legion 
at  the  siege  of  Savannah  on  October  9,  1779,  contributed 
valuable  service  in  covering  the  retreat,  repulsing  the 
charge  of  the  British  and  in  saving  the  American  and 
French  army.  It  is  estimated  that  there  were  thirty-five 
Negroes  to  each  white  regiment  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  They  were  in  the  War  of  1812.  Commodore 
Perry  referred  to  those  who  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Lake  Erie  as  “absolutely  insensible  of  danger.”  General 
Andrew  Jackson  was  generous  in  his  praise  of  the 
Negro’s  valor  in  the  armies  of  the  Southwest. 


There  were  161  regiments  and  178,975  Negro  soldiers 
in  the  Union  Army  of  the  Civil  War.  Confederate  en- 
listments should  be  added  to  the  reckoning.  Allegiance 
to  his  master’s  interests  is  quite  as  much  to  be 
reckoned  a trait  of  patriotism  as  fighting  for  his  people's 
freedom.  The  distinguished  service  of  the  Tenth 
Colored  Cavalry  coming  to  support  Colonel  Roosevelt 
and  the  Rough  Riders  in  the  first  battle  in  Cuba  at  Las 
Guasimas  should  never  be  forgotten.  El  Caney  and  San 
Tuan  Hill  are  places  where  Negro  troops  took  dis- 
tinguished part. 

“Ah,  they  rallied  to  the  standard 
To  uphold  it  by  their  might 
None  were  stronger  in  the  labors, 

None  were  braver  in  the  fight. 

“So  all  honor  and  all  glory 

To  those  noble  sons  of  Ham, 

The  gallant  colored  soldiers 
Who  fought  for  Uncle  Sam.” 

With  such  a background  what  would  be  the  record 
of  the  World  War?  The  American  Negro’s  physical 
prowess  was  the  greatest  asset.  In  all  wars  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  soldiers  of  all  nations  and  colors  have 
more  work,  plain  drudgery,  to  perform  than  actual 
fighting.  In  this  field  the  Negro  did  his  part  nobly. 
He  was  even  enlisted  for  work  quite  as  much  as  for 
fighting.  “Thus  at  the  front,”  says  Frederic  Palmer  in 
“Our  Greatest  Rattle,”  “The  colored  man  kept  open  the 
passageway  for  supplies  which  the  colored  man  had 
unloaded  at  the  ports.  He  was  truly  the  Hercules  of 
physical  labor  for  us.” 

“The  Song  of  Noah’s  Crew”  suggests  one  kind  of 
work  they  did. 

“Down  in  the  vessel’s  innards, 

’Midst  the  whirlin’  shafts  and  rods. 

The  ‘Black  Gang’  is  a workin’ 

In  ‘The  Garden  of  the  Gods,’ 

A heavin’  coal  and  ashes, 

(Which  I’m  glad  their  job  ain’t  mine;) 

But  they  keep  this  boat  a humpin’ 

Thru  the  heavin’  ocean’s  brine.” 

During  the  early  months  of  the  war  no  troops  marched 
more  proudly  nor  were  received  with  more  eclat  than 
“Uncle  Sam’s  Chocolate  Soldiers,”  as  they  paraded  New 
York’s  “Avenue  of  the  Allies.”  400,000  were  called  to 
the  colors ; 200,000  went  overseas.  In  some  Southern 
states  the  number  of  Negroes  in  service  was  almost 
equal  to  white  enrollments;  from  Mississippi  there  were 
more  Negroes  than  whites  in  the  army.  Des  Moines, 
the  Plattsburg  of  the  race,  trained  more  than  a thousand 
Negro  officers.  For  the  first  time  in  our  national  history 
it  has  been  proved  that,  despite  some  failures,  Negro 
officers  demonstrated  their  fitness  and  capacity  to  com- 
mand men  of  their  own  race. 


Negro  combat  units  overseas,  whether  in  Flanders,  in 
Champagne,  in  the  Argonne  Forest,  in  the  Vosges,  on 
the  Meuse,  or  before  Metz,  lived  up  to  their  standards 
of  bravery  attained  in  previous  struggles  in  America. 
The  fact  of  failure  of  one  Negro  regiment  in  a line  of 
trenches  is  not  the  whole  case.  Others  than  Negroes 
made  failures  during  the  war.  Negro  troops  with  suf- 
ficient training  and  especially  the  regiments  brigaded 
with  French  regiments  have  unusual  records  of  “cour- 
age, endurance  and  aggressiveness”  to  their  credit.  In 
the  records  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  it  is 
written  that  colored  troops  of  the  92nd  Division  were 
“in  the  hardest  fighting  of  the  last  hour  of  the  war,”  that 
the  “old  15th  New  York”  was  farthest  east,  nearest  the 
Rhine  and  that  after  the  armistice  were  first  of  all 
Allied  troops  to  reach  the  Rhine.  Four  Negro  regiments 
(the  365th,  the  369th,  the  371st  and  the  372nd)  won  the 
signal  honor  of  being  awarded  the  Croix  de  Guerre  as 
regiments.  The  Buffaloes  returned  with  credit  and  honor 
together  with  the  unusual  distinction  of  their  regimental 
colors  decorated  by  the  French  High  Command.  Colonel 
Moss,  their  commander,  a native  Louisianan,  demon- 
strated in  his  commanding  genius  what  a white  leader 
of  high  intellectual  and  moral  tone,  together  with  a real 
sense  of  justice,  can  accomplish  as  a leader  of  colored 
men. 

The  369th  regiment  (Old  New  York  National  Guard 
with  additions  from  all  parts  of  the  country)  rendered 
conspicuous  combat  service.  Col.  Hayward  says  of  his 
men : 

“They  were  brave,  clean  men,  my  Old  Fifteenth,  and 
they  have  a record  no  regiment  in  any  way  can  claim. 
They  always  fought  hard,  and  they  confined  themselves 
only  to  fighting  the  Germans.  In  fourteen  months  there 
were  only  six  cases  of  drunkenness.  We  went  into  action 
with  but  the  scantiest  training.  After  three  weeks  of 
instruction  we  were  made  part  of  the  French  army,  and 
went  into  the  trenches  alongside  of  French  veterans  of 
four  years’  experience,  and  we  held  up  our  end.  But 
our  regiment  paid  the  price,  too.  We  went  over  with 
fifty-six  officers  and  2,000  men,  and  we  returned  with 
but  twenty  of  the  original  officers  and  1,200  men,  but 
none  of  my  boys  was  taken  prisoner,  nor  did  we  yield 
a foot  or  an  inch  of  ground.”  This  regiment  had  the 
unique  distinction  of  being  191  days  on  the  firing  line — 
a term  of  service  five  days  longer  than  that  of  any 
American  regiment  at  the  front.” 

Who  knows  better  than  General  Pershing  the  worth 
of  Negro  soldiers?  He  had  tested  them  in  years  of 
peace ; he  had  gone  into  Mexico  with  them ; he  was 
their  Generalissimo  overseas.  Of  them  he  says:  “I  place 
the  greatest  confidence  in  the  patriotism  and  devotion  of 
our  colored  troops.  Their  work  is  splendid  both  in  the 
front  line  and  in  the  service  of  supplies.” 


Asset  as  a JV orker 

In  numbers  alone  Negroes  constitute  one-seventh  of 
the  working  force  of  this  country.  The  “twenty  Negars” 
of  1619  have  become  thirteen  millions  in  three  hundred 
years.  In  this  day  when  volume  of  production  on  farm- 
lands and  in  factories  means  so  much  the  strong  hands 
and  sturdy  muscles  of  the  Negro  peoples  of  our  country 
have  superlative  values.  Literally  his  brawn  is  con- 
tributing far  more  to  the  solution  of  a people  perplexed 
by  the  problems  of  the  high  cost  of  living  than  is  the 
brawn  of  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans.  His  honest 
labor  to  all  America,  yea,  to  the  world  is  a pearl  of  great 
price. 

In  1910  of  the  3,178,554  Negro  men  listed  in  the 
census  981.922  were  farm  laborers  and  798,509  were 
farmers.  In  other  words,  56  per  cent,  were  farmers,  a 
meaningful  fact  in  a day  of  America’s  “back  to  the  farm” 
movement,  increasingly  significant  in  an  agricultural 
program  not  only  of  cotton  and  corn,  but  of  diversified 
crops.  Add  to  the  list  of  farmers  of  1910  those  employed 
in  building  and  hand  trades,  saw  and  planing  mills,  as 
also  railway  firemen,  porters,  draymen,  teamsters  and 
coal  miner  operators  but  taking  no  account  of  Negro 
professional  men  and  we  have  71-2  per  cent,  of  males 
“engaged  in  such  work  as  represents  the  very  foundation 
of  American  industry.”  And  what  of  the  women?  52 
per  cent,  were  farmerettes.  It  is  no  new  thing  for  Negro 
women  to  be  in  the  fields.  28  per  cent,  more  were  cooks 
and  washerwomen.  That  is,  80  per  cent,  of  the  Negro 
women  were  doing  some  of  the  “hardest  and  most  neces- 
sary work  in  our  home  and  industrial  life.”  The  Negro 
in  industry  is  one  of  America’s  greatest  assets. 

In  all  countries  the  man  who  tends  the  land  is  the 
country’s  glory  and  safeguard.  Millet  has  painted  the 
French  peasant  as  “The  Sower”  and  the  “Gleaner.”  That 
artist  will  make  a real  contribution  who  paints  for  appre- 
ciative Americans  the  Negro  cabin  in  a cornfield  tended 
if  not  owned  by  the  Negro  farmer,  or  the  entire  Negro 
family  in  the  field  at  cotton  picking  time  or  a Negro 
artisan  among  the  whirling  wheels  of  modern  industry. 
Shaw’s  Monument  on  Boston  Common  proclaims  the 
heroism  of  the  Negro  soldier  in  the  Civil  War.  Another 
Boston  statue  shows  Lincoln  with  his  great  arms  stretched 
out  in  freedom  giving  power  over  a Negro  slave.  Some 
southern  city  will  portray  some  day  in  bronze  the  faith- 
fulness of  the  Negro  Slave  to  the  Southerner’s  home  and 
estate  in  the  day  of  his  master’s  absence  as  a Confederate 
soldier.  I propose  a statue  to  the  Negro  artisan,  as  a 
fitting  though  belated  recognition  of  three  hundred  years 
faithful  and  increasing  services  to  American  life,  for 
long  years  limited  to  the  South,  now  for  the  whole 
country. 


His  Industrial  Success 

Too  exclusively  the  Negro  has  been  thought  of  in  the 
terms  of  the  domestic  servant.  In  the  right  light  it  is  an 
honorable  distinction.  At  his  best  the  domestic  has  be- 
longed to  the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Christian  Round 
Table  whose  motto  has  been:  “Whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you  let  him  be  your  servant.”  He  has  often  shown 
the  real  spirit  and  heart  of  “The  Servant  in  the  House.” 
This  old-time  relation  of  life  has  gradually  changed  since 
the  days  of  Emancipation.  Only  21  per  cent,  of  all 
Negroes  were  of  this  class  in  1910.  The  movement  away 
from  domestic  service  has  been  greatly  accelerated  since 
the  wartime  demands  in  industry  came  upon  us.  Even 
before  the  Great  War  Negro  laborers  were  multiplying 
in  lumber  camps,  mines,  iron  mills,  and  all  forms  of 
industry  in  the  Sunny  South.  Increasingly  also  they 
were  coming  North  as  industrial  laborers.  Only  in 
Southern  cotton  mills  did  the  “poor  whites”  reign  supreme. 

The  coming  of  the  war  meant  accelerated  industry  and 
a new  day  for  Negro  labor.  Negroes  were  needed  in 
great  numbers  in  factories,  mines,  munition  plants,  docks, 
stockyards,  freight  yards  and  in  many  other  places  not 
previously  entered.  Negro  women  in  greatly  increased 
numbers  found  welcome  also  as  clerks,  factory  hands, 
milliners,  wrappers,  checkers.  Race  was  no  hindrance 
when-  economic  law  made  demands.  A new  day  for  the 
colored  worker  had  dawned.  His  work  was  a success. 
The  Department  of  Negro  Economics  of  the  United 
States  Government  in  a careful  study  found  that  “with 
here  and  there  an  exception  the  Negro  workers  in  the 
matter  of  turnover,  absenteeism,  wage  scales,  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  work  on  which  they  are  employed, 
compared  favorably  with  the  white  workers  in  the  same 
plant  on  the  same  work.  Here  is  substantial  answer  to 
the  old  charge  of  shiftlessness  and  laziness.” 

As  a skilled  workman  he  made  good.  24,647  Negroes 
were  employed  by  the  United  States  Shipping  Board  when 
the  armistice  was  signed.  Of  this  number  4,962  were 
skilled  workmen  and  19,685  were  unskilled.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  these  numbers  were  respectively 
reduced  to  3,872  and  10,203.  In  the  case  of  the  skilled 
workers  this  was  a 20.7  per  cent,  reduction.  Of  the 
unskilled  48  per  cent,  reduction.  These  facts  are  alto- 
gether to  the  good  in  testing  the  success  of  the  Negro 
skilled  laborer.  Other  investigations  of  the  Department 
of  Negro  Economics  in  various  industrial  plants  through- 
out the  country  emphasize  the  same  truth.  The  skilled 
Negro  has  very  largely  retained  his  position  in  all  places 
where  he  has  gained  foothold  during  the  last  few  years. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Charles  Knight  made  the 
record  as  a riveter  in  the  war  period,  having  driven  4,875 
rivets  in  nine  hours  in  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Plant  at 


Sparrow’s  Point,  Md.,  and  that  Charles  H.  Jackson  is 
the  recent  inventor  of  an  armored  diving  suit,  to  be 
used  as  a device  for  marine  salvage  and  permitting  a 
descent  of  360  feet  beneath  the  water’s  surface. 

There  is  such  a thing  as  the  thriftless  Negro.  He  is  still 
with  us  in  sufficient  though  decreasing  numbers.  The 
real  Negro  is  the  working  Negro.  When  new  industries 
are  planned  and  new  developments  projected  the  colored 
man  is  included  in  the  reckoning.  He  is  on  the  Railroad 
section  as  well  as  in  the  Pullman  car  and  diner.  We 
find  him  in  the  stockyards  of  Chicago,  the  automobile 
industry  of  Detroit,  the  rubber  works  of  Akron,  the  steel 
mills  of  Pittsburgh.  Cleveland  and  other  mid-western 
cities.  The  Negro  was  the  determining  factor  in  the  steel 
strike  of  1919.  At  last,  all  too  tardily,  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  has  admitted  him  to  membership  in 
the  union.  His  number  is  multiplying  among  the  long- 
shoremen of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  New  York.  He 
digs  coal  in  the  mines  of  Kentucky,  West  Virginia, 
Indiana,  and  Kansas.  Even  after  the  war  is  over  he  is 
among  the  shipbuilders  of  Portsmouth,  Newark,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore,  Norfolk  and  Newport  News.  In  the 
latter  place  5,500  skilled  Negro  laborers  work  with  white 
men  side  by  side.  Mr.  Homer  L.  Ferguson,  native  of  North 
Carolina,  “the  most  human  shipbuilder  in  America,” 
sounds  a real  warning:  “Don’t  you  dare  come  down  from 
the  North  to  this  yard  and  tell  us  that  the  black  man  in 
the  South  is  an  industrial  failure — you  who  only  use 
him  as  an  elevator  boy  or  a parlor-car  porter  or  a 
chauffeur  and  refuse  to  give  him  an  equal  industrial 
opportunity  with  white  labor.”  Varied  industries  in 
many  places  have  called  300,000  to  500,000  from  cabins, 
farms  and  plantations  of  the  Southland  for  work  that 
must  be  done — work  left  undone  unless  the  strong  hands 
of  Negroes  do  it. 


A progressive  race,  rather  than  a static  one,  is  a national 
asset.  In  his  poem,  “Howard  at  Atlanta,”  Whittier  struck 
the  note  which  has  been  finely  resounding  in  Negro  life 
in  all  the  years  since  “Linkum’s  Soldiers”  emancipated  a 
race. 


“And  he  said : ‘Who  hears  can  never 
Fear  for  or  doubt  you; 

What  shall  I tell  the  children 
Up  North  about  you?’ 

Then  ran  round  a whisper,  a murmur, 
Some  answer  devising 
And  a little  boy  stood  up  : ‘Massa, 
Tell  ’em,  we’re  rising.’  ” 


The  Negro  has  been  divinely  endowed  with  the  quality 
of  quickly  adjusting  himself  to  his  environment  “whether 
to  the  tropical  malarial  swamps  of  Africa  where  man  and 


A 


beast  are  sluggish,”  to  the  plantation  life  of  slavery  in  the 
South,  to  experiences  of  developing  freedom  when  the 
bonds  of  slavery  were  cast  aside,  or  to  the  larger  life  of 
economic  and  social  expansion  of  an  era  of  the  Great  War 
and  succeeding  reconstruction.  He  can  be  depended 
upon  to  adapt  himself  to  the  common  ideals  of  American 
living.  What  the  Negro  becomes  in  America  vitally 
depends  upon  what  America,  which  he  loves,  becomes  and 
the  way  in  which  the  best  of  American  life  gives  itself  in 
assuring  to  all  men  freedom  of  movement,  security  of  life 
and  property,  common  justice  and  the  square  deal. 

In  educational  scales  the  Negro  has  not  been  found 
wanting.  He  has  risen  remarkably.  He  has  been  signific- 
antly American  in  banishing  the  evil  of  illiteracy  and 
ignorance.  Dr.  Philander  P.  Claxton,  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  writes  as  follows: 

“The  people  from  the  North,  out  of  the  goodness  of  their 
hearts,  gave  money  in  large  quantities  for  the  establish- 
ment of  schools  for  the  education  of  the  Negroes  in  the 
Southern  States.  Public  schools  also  gradually  helping 
illiteracy  was  brought  down  to  75  per  cent.,  and  to  60 
per  cent.,  and  to  45  per  cent.,  and  it  stood  at  30  per  cent,  in 
1910.  Only  about  25  per  cent,  now  cannot  read  and  write, 
and  of  these  between  the  ages  of  10  and  20,  about  15  per 
cent.  Nothing  like  it  ever  happened  before  at  any  time 
or  any  place  in  the  history  of  the  world.  No  other  race 
ever  rose  from  illiteracy  to  literacy  so  rapidly  as  the 
colored  people  of  the  Southern  States.  Already  there  is 
less  illiteracy  than  there  was  among  the  white  people 
of  the  whole  United  States  when  they  gained  their 
freedom,  and  less  than  among  the  white  people  of  the 
Southern  States  only  fifteen  years  ago.”  New  facts  com- 
ing out  of  new  experience  would  indicate  more  illiteracy 
than  evidenced  by  this  statement.  Yet  the  achievement  of 
fifty  years  has  been  so  notable  that  the  essential  truth  of 
Commissioner  Claxton’s  words  bears  unquestioned  witness 
to  real  Americanism. 


Negro  Leaders 

The  Negro  is  an  asset  to  essential  Americanism  in  the 
leadership  which  his  race  has  produced.  In  the  later 
slavery  and  early  reconstruction  days  the  only  Negro  of 
national  proportion  was  Frederick  Douglass.  No  wonder 
that  his  picture  along  with  that  of  Booker  Washington  is 
to  be  found  hanging  on  the  walls  of  Negro  cabins  and  in 
the  front  rooms  of  the  better  and  best  Negro  homes.  The 
famous  Atlanta  speech  of  the  Founder  of  Tuskegee  won 
the  interest  and  allegiance  of  the  South.  A people  capable 
of  producing  such  leaders  is  the  richer  as  a race,  vindi- 
cates the  cause  of  education  and  possesses  living  assets  for 
all  American  life. 


But  these  two  are  not  the  only  leaders.  They  now  are 
numerous  in  all  walks  of  life,  both  North  and  South.  Herein 
is  vindicated  the  soundness  of  the  American  emphasis  on 
education.  The  education  of  Negroes  has  produced  leaders, 
all  kinds  of  education  have  tended  to  this  result  for  all 
kinds  of  leadership  were  needed.  In  a critical  time  of 
storm  and  stress  in  these  days  of  reconstruction  finer 
growths  have  come  into  fruition,  a steadying  dynamic  has 
been  operating  through  the  avenues  of  trained  men  and 
women.  Whether  Booker  Washington  was  right  or 
Dubois  was  right  in  educational  emphasis  is  beside  the 
mark.  Both  were  right.  Certainly  the  times  have  shown 
that  the  greatest  danger  lay  in  ignorance,  the  greatest 
security  in  training.  The  same  kind  of  education  that 
was  good  for  the  white  man  was  good  for  the  Negro.  The 
results  have  been  racial  self  respect,  racial  influence  in 
sanity  and  self  control,  racial  patience  and  forbearance, 
real  achievements  of  Americanism.  Is  there  not  reason 
and  right  for  Reverdv  C.  Ransom  to  proclaim  prophet- 
ically : 

“I  see,  now  near  at  hand,  the  opening  day  of  the  darker 
races  of  mankind  in  which  Americans  of  African  descent 
stand  forth  among  the  first  Americans.” 


Progress  in  Business 

The  Negro’s  commercial  progress  has  been  remarkable. 
Increasing  numbers  of  his  race  have  shown  unshakable 
evidence  of  that  soundest  principle  of  American  business 
success — thrift.  In  1866  the  Negroes  of  the  country  North 
and  South  owned  12,000  houses,  operated  20,000  farms, 
conducted  2,100  businesses  and  had  $20,000,000  of  accumu- 
lated wealth.  Fifty  years  later  the  number  of  homes 
owned  had  increased  to  600,000,  one  out  of  very  four,  the 
operated  farms  to  981,000,  the  number  of  businesses  to 
45,000  and  the  accumulated  wealth  to  $1,110,000,000.  In 
1867  four  hundred  Negroes  were  engaged  in  about  forty 
lines  of  business ; in  1917  they  were  engaged  in  two 
hundred  lines  and  had  $50,000,000  invested.  Today  there 
are  seventy  or  more  safe  and  sound  banks  in  the  hands 
of  capable  Negro  financiers.  Already  members  of  the 
race  have  received  grants  for  a thousand  patents.  In 
1866  the  valuation  of  property  used  for  higher  education 
was  $60,000;  in  1916  it  was  $21,500,000.  For  the  same 
dates  the  valuation  of  church  property  increased  from 
$1,500,000  to  $76,000,000.  Were  the  figures  for  increase 
along  all  lines  for  the  last  five  years  available  a much 
more  marked  contrast  would  appear. 


Negro  Literature 

A Negro  literature  has  been  produced.  Dunbar  has 
become  the  Bobbie  Burns  of  a race’s  heart  throbs.  James 
Weldon  Johnson  has  made  addition  to  American  literature 
in  his  “Fifty  Years  and  Other  Poems.”  Booker  Wash- 
ington has  told  the  story  of  his  life  and  work  in  volumes 
truly  biographical  and  American.  J.  W.  Holloway’s  new 
volume  of  poems  adds  to  the  unveiling  of  the  Negro’s 
inner  life.  No  one  can  get  away  from  the  passion  and 
appeal  of  Dubois’  “Soul  of  Black  Folks.”  Nor  can  he 
fail  in  appreciation  of  the  treatment  of  vital  themes  and 
of  the  literary  quality  of  “Darkwater,”  even  though  the  ex- 
tremes in  statements  and  dramatic  setting  are  not  appeal- 
ing. Braithwaite,  literary  editor  of  the  Boston  Transcript, 
Isaac  Fisher  of  Fisk  University,  Kelly  Miller  and  many 
others  write  for  a nation  as  well  as  a race.  Can  nobler 
American  ideals  be  put  into  prose  or  poetry  than  in  those 
words  in  which  Kelly  Miller,  Dean  of  the  College  of 
Liberal  Arts  of  Howard  University  pledges  the  Negro 
youth  of  today : 

“I  will  never  bring  disgrace  upon  my  race  by  any 
unworthy  deed  or  dishonorable  act ; I will  live  a clean, 
decent,  manly  life,  and  will  ever  respect  and  defend  the 
virtue  and  honor  of  womanhood.  I will  uphold  and  obey 
the  just  laws  of  my  country  and  of  the  community  in 
which  I live  and  will  encourage  others  to  do  likewise;  I 
will  not  allow  prejudice,  injustice,  insult  or  outrage  to 
cower  my  spirit  or  sour  my  soul,  but  will  ever  preserve 
the  inner  freedom  of  heart  and  conscience ; I will  not  allow 
myself  to  be  overcome  of  evil  but  will  strive  to  overcome 
evil  with  good ; I will  endeavor  to  develop  and  unceasingly 
to  quicken  the  sense  of  racial,  duty  and  responsibility;  I 
will  in  all  these  ways  aim  to  uplift  my  race,  so  that,  to 
everyone  bound  to  it  by  ties  of  blood,  it  shall  become  a 
bond  of  ennoblement,  and  not  a byword  of  reproach.” 
The  Negro  Press. 

There  are  four  hundred  Negro  newspapers  and  periodi- 
cals in  the  land.  This  influence,  largely  for  good,  is 
being  multiplied.  Few  of  these  publications  are  radical 
in  appeal,  none  are  really  “red.”  The  following  from 
a western  paper  with  wide  circulation  in  the  South  well 
illustrates  the  loyal  constructive  quality  of  the  editorial 
point  of  view : 

“We  have  never  carried  the  red  flag.  We  have  never 
thrown  a bomb  nor  wrecked  a railroad.  We  have  never 
betrayed  the  secrets  of  our  government  to  the  enemy.  We 
have  never  joined  in  any  bolshevik  movement,  and,  what 
is  more  to  the  point,  we  never  will.  When  we  shoulder 
a gun  it  will  never  be  against  our  government.  Are  we 
then  asking  too  much  of  the  powers  that  be  to  throw  the 
full  protection  of  the  law  about  us,  and  give  us  a man’s 
chance  ?” 


The  Negro  in  Art 

The  week  following  Christmas,  1919,  the  new  Dunbar 
Theatre  on  South  Broad  Street,  Philadelphia  was  opened 
to  the  public.  It  was  built  from  money  invested  by 
colored  people  from  all  over  the  country  but  largely  of 
Philadelphia.  Its  cost  was  $400,000.  Its  arrangements 
and  appointments  made  a most  creditable  structure  from 
architectural  and  dramatic  points  of  view.  Its  manager 
is  a colored  man.  It  is  one  of  a series  of  theatres  located 
in  all  the  large  northern  cities.  On  the  evening  of  my 
attendance  the  Lafayette  Players,  a colored  troupe  pre- 
sented “Within  the  Law.”  The  play  was  simple  and 
wholesome.  The  dramatic  action  was  good.  There  were 
no  forced  attempts  at  scenic  effect  nor  efforts  in  song  or 
action  to  approach  the  suggestive  in  the  name  of  art, 
Greek  or  any  other.  The  moral  tone  was  positive.  The 
audience  entirely  colored  was  attentive,  appreciative,  en- 
thusiastic. Six  or  eight  years  ago  no  colored  group  of 
players  would  have  dared  to  make  so  serious  an  attempt. 
They  would  have  confined  themselves  to  elocutionary 
productions  or  plantation  melodies  if  in  serious  tone  or,  if 
in  lighter  vein,  to  the  ordinary  minstrel  performance. 

First  among  Negro  musicians  ranks  Samuel  Coleridge- 
Taylor.  Those  familiar  with  his  Hiawatha  production  as 
well  as  “Atonement”  realize  his  artistic  standing  among 
eminent  composers.  Harry  T.  Burleigh,  composer  and 
singer,  whose  name  for  many  years  has  been  associated 
with  St.  George’s  in  New  York  City,  thrills  and  inspires 
all  classes  of  men.  Roland  W.  Hayes  is  fast  becoming  a 
great  tenor  of  his  race.  During  the  past  season  he  has 
been  singing  to  large  audiences  of  both  races  throughout 
the  country.  He  soon  goes  to  Africa  as  a student  to 
uncover  new  facts  and  melodies  coming  up  through  Negro 
life  from  its  native  haunts  to  its  present  habitat.  Dett’s 
“Listen  to  the  Lambs”  and  similar  compositions  have 
helped  to  bring  freshly  to  a world  audience  the  old 
“spiritual.”  Will  Marion  Cook  with  his  orchestra  and 
accompanying  singers  has  been  pleasing  English  audi- 
ences during  the  past  season. 

Turning  from  composers  and  singers  of  outstanding 
reputation  to  a painter,  Henry  O.  Tanner’s  work  is  of 
such  quality  that  “The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus”  hangs 
in  the  Luxembourg  Galleries  of  Paris.  The  director  of 
the  gallery  pronounces  the  picture  “an  expression  of 
exalted  achievement.”  “The  Betrayal,”  “The  Annuncia- 
tion,” “Christ  and  Nicodemus”  and  “The  Flight  into 
Egypt”  are  to  be  found  in  various  American  Galleries. 
Meta  Warrick  Fuller  of  Philadelphia,  a sculptor,  in  her 
“Secret  Sorrow”  particularly  obtained  the  praise  of  Rodin 
as  he  said:  “You  are  a sculptor;  you  have  the  sense  of 
form.”  Without  the  work  of  Negroes  America  would  be 
the  loser  in  masterpieces  of  art  and  literature. 


Innate  Qualities 

The  Negro’s  emotional  endowment  is  a national  asset. 
With  him  emotion  needs  balancing  by  rational  processes 
bnt  it  must  always  be  remembered  that  the  “sense  of 
reality  roots  itself  in  feeling.”  As  Prof.  Work  puts  it: 
“the  Negro  is  not  so  different  from  other  men  in  his 
thought  as  he  is  in  his  feelings.  In  thought,  he  is  gen- 
eric ; in  feeling  more  specific.  His  feelings  are  broader 
and  deeper  than  those  of  other  men  and  they  have  more 
directive  influence  and  power  over  him  than  other  men’s 
feelings  have  upon  them.”  Hence  arises  the  great  power 
of  the  Negro  preacher  in  the  realms  of  justice  and  faith. 
Real  preachers  are  contributors  to  the  inner  wealth  of  a 
nation’s  life.  Many  so-called  Negro  preachers  have  been 
ignorant  and  immoral  but,  when  true  to  their  calling  in 
the  best  sense,  few  men  have  wielded  greater  relative 
influence  for  good  in  directing  action  than  those  who  have 
become  the  prophetic  voices  of  their  people’s  better  life. 
Crudely  they  have  often  spoken  but  always  effectively. 
With  a better  education  they  are  becoming  and  will  be 
even  more  potent  in  mental  and  spiritual  influence. 

The  Negro  is  optimistic.  He  dares  to  hope — is  there 
any  higher  form  of  courage?  His  hopes  have  been  de- 
ferred— but  he  has  hoped  on.  He  has  drunk  deeply  at 
the  well  of  persistence,  as  the  melody  runs  “Goin’  to  hold 
out  to  the  end.  Let  trials  come  as  they  will  come,”  “Keepa 
inching  along!  Jesus  will  come  by  and  by.” 

His  optimism  is  so  genuine  that  he  is  fundamentally 
good  natured  rather  than  easy  going.  Who  dare  say 
America  needs  not  that  tonic  in  her  life?  Pres.  King  for 
many  years  president  of  the  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation whose  service  to  the  Christian  education  of  the 
Negro  are  most  noteworthy  has  said:  “The  pure  Negro 
seems  often  to  have  a temperamental  kindliness  of  disposi- 
tion, a good-natured  readiness  to  make  the  most  of  a 
situation,  and  to  find  none  insufferable,  that,  while  it  may 
often  be  an  obstacle  to  advancement,  has  a great  gift  to 
make  to  the  contentment  and  happiness  of  life.  It  is 
possible  to  make  life  quite  too  strenuous,  to  live  so  com- 
pletely in  the  future  as  never  really  to  live  in  the  present, 
— to  take  no  enjoyment  in  life  as  it  passes.  And  this  is 
the  certain  danger  of  the  American  rush.  The  Negro’s 
tendency  has  in  it,  a real  element  of  strength,  and  much 
suggestion  for  an  over-enterprising  people  that  has  be- 
come frantic  in  its  haste.” 

The  Negro  even  enjoys  his  religion.  Would  an  aero- 
plane visitor  from  the  East  say  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
as  he  sees  the  lines  on  his  face  when  he  comes  from  his 
place  of  Sabbath  worship?  Happiness  to  the  Negro  is  not 
a by-product;  it  is  the  direct  result  of  his  faith.  With  a 
soul  which  is  assured  that  all  things  will  turn  out  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  right,  really  believes  that  “God’s  in 


his  Heaven”  he  has  joy  in  believing.  Clouds  may  some- 
times overcast  the  sky ; these  are  only  incidents  in  the  life 
of  faith.  As  Prof.  Work  puts  it;  in  his  “Folk  Song  of  the 
American  Negro”:  “The  believer  can  smile  through  tears 
and  shout  Hallelujah  in  a minor  strain.”  So,  for  every 
sorrow  song  like  “Nobody  Know  the  Trouble  I See,” 
there  are  many  of  those  blasts  of  joy,  like  “Great  Camp 
Meeting,”  "Shout  All  Over  God's  Heaven”  and  “Golden 
Slippers.” 

The  Patience  of  the  Negro  is  a national  asset.  Go  back 
over  the  three  hundred  years  of  the  race  in  this  land  of 
America.  Has  it  been  a history  of  insurrection?  Far 
from  it.  Was  there  not  cause?  Was  fear  the  restraining 
element?  No,  a thousand  times,  no.  It  was  chiefly  the 
patience  of  the  slave,  not  that,  of  a people.  In  recalling 
his  own  experience  with  Negro  troops  in  the  Civil  War 
Thomas  W.  Higginson  wrote:  “I  often  ask  myself  why 
it  was  that,  with  this  capacity  for  daring  and  endurance 
the  Negroes  had  not  kept  the  land  in  a perpetual  flame 
of  insurrection.  The  answer  was  to  be  found  in  the 
peculiar  temperament  of  the  race,  in  their  religious  faith, 
and  in  the  habit  of  patience  the  centuries  had  fortified.” 
Shall  not  impatient  hasty  America,  the  country  of  Ameri- 
canitis,  in  taking  its  account  of  stock  place  on  the  credit 
side  this  inexhaustible  resource?  With  millions  of  people 
multiplying,  wealth  accumulating,  life  on  all  hands  becom- 
ing more  complex  and  miscellaneous,  the  Negroes  them- 
selves extending  their  habitations  to  all  parts  of  the  land, 
let  us  thank  God  and  take  courage  for  this  fact  of  patience. 

The  Negro  has  a growing  wholesome  self  respect  re- 
vealing itself  in  terms  of  good  sense. 

Is  there  not  worthy  expression  of  this  conquering  gift 
in  that  interpretation  which  comes  to  us  from  Inez  A. 
Godman,  a colored  woman  of  Madison,  Conn. 

“Of  all  troubled  Races  in  this  troubled  old  world  the  American 
Negro  has  the  most  inspiring  trouble.  The  Negro  in  this  country 
is  comparatively  fresh  in  his  problems.  He  has  not  ages  of  race 
quarrels  and  animosities  to  overcome.  His  Race  is  making  a new 
start  in  a new  country  where  the  great  majority  of  his  fellow 
countrymen  believe  in  giving  him  a fair  show.  They  may  be 
rather  apathetic  about  expressing  their  belief — we  Americans 
don’t  care  to  bother — but  the  belief  is  there  just  the  same 
and  it  gives  a very  different  foundation  upon  which  to  build 
from  a very  different  foundation  upon  which  to  build  from  that — 
for  instance,  of  the  Armenian  Race  in  Turkey.  This  is  a land 
of  plenty  and  in  a good  degree  the  Negro  has  his  chance  to  it. 
Troubles.  To  be  sure;  to  be  sure!  Things  are  being  born  these 
days  and  there  is  no  birth  without  travail.  What  are  troubles 
to  the  worthy  soul  but  stepping  stones  to  glory.  Would  you 
like  it  young  men  if  the  way  of  the  Negro  was  easy  and  soft; 

now  would  you?  Not  on  your  life!  The  way  of  ease  brings  no 

honor.  If  the  soul  is  worthy  it  prefers  the  progress  of  the  Race 
to  its  own  peace  and  comfort. 

“Somewhere  among  our  boys  and  girls  today  are  the  future 
leaders  of  the  Race.  No  one  can  spot  them  now  but  they  walk 

among  us  with  earnest  eyes  and  eager  souls,  and  upon  the  fibre 

of  their  souls  depends  the  future  of  the  Race.  Perhaps  you  don’t 


care  about  the  future  of  the  Race.  Perhaps  you  care  only  for 
your  own  pleasure.  Step  aside  then  for  God’s  sake,  step  aside.  He 
is  molding,  forming  a new  Race  in  His  mighty  crucible.  If  you 
are  not  willing  to  be  born  again  by  fire  toddle  away  as  fast  as 
your  toothpick  toes  and  steeple  heels  can  carry  you.  God’s  needs 
are  great  just  now.  Clear  the  way  for  those  more  worthy.  If  the 
mothers  of  the  Race  hitch  their  wagon  to  a star  and  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Race  forge  propellers  and  wings  for  the  wagons, 
the  star  ahead,  alone,  will  set  the  only  limit  for  the  Race.” 

The  Religion  of  the  Negro  is  a national  asset.  How 
effectively  has  Dean  Benjamin  Brawley  of  Morehouse 
College  spoken  for  his  race : “Not  only  however,  does 
the  Negro  give  promise  because  of  his  economic  worth; 
not  only  does  he  deserve  the  fullest  rights  of  citizenship  on 
the  basis  of  his  work  as  a soldier;  he  brings  nothing  less 
than  a great  spiritual  contribution  to  civilization  in 
America.  His  is  a race  of  enthusiasm,  imagination,  and 
high  spiritual  fervor.  He  revels  in  the  sighing  of  the 
wind,  the  falling  of  the  stars,  the  laughter  of  children,  and 
already  his  music  is  recognized  as  the  most  original  that 
the  country  has  produced ; from  his  deep-toned  melodies 
wails  a note  of  intolerable  pathos.  But  over  all  the  doubt 
and  fear  through  which  it  passes  there  still  rests  with 
the  great  heart  of  the  race  an  abiding  trust  in  God. 
Around  us  every  where  are  commercialism,  politics,  graft 
— sordidness,  selfishness,  cynicism.  We  need  faith  and 
hope  and  love,  a new  birth  of  idealism,  more  fervent  faith 
in  the  unseen;  and  the  stone  that  the  builders  rejected  is 
become  the  head  of  the  corner.  Already  the  work  of  some 
members  of  the  race  has  pointed  the  way  to  great  things 
in  the  realm  of  conscious  art ; but  above  even  art  soars 
the  great  world  of  the  spirit.  This  it  is  that  America 
most  sadly  needs;  this  it  is  that  her  most  fiercely  perse- 
cuted children  bring  to  her.” 

The  Response 

What  shall  be  the  answer  of  thoughtful,  sober.  Chris- 
tian Americans  who  believe  in  the  “square  deal”?  Shall 
it  be  anything  less  than  full  protection  for  the  Negro’s 
life  and  property,  economic  justice  involving  equal  oppor- 
tunities for  labor  with  all  others  along  with  equitable  pay, 
the  preservation  of  the  sanctity  of  his  home,  the  girlhood 
and  womanhood  of  his  race,  adequate  facilities  for  recrea- 
tion, wholesome  amusement  and  entertainment,  equal 
travelling  accommodations  for  equal  pay,  adequate  educa- 
tional facilities  to  be  furnished  by  state  and  nation  and 
the  qualifications  for  the  use  of  the  franchise  as  for  all 
men  and  women.  Shall  it  be  anything  less  than  a man’s 
chance  for  manhood  qualities?  For  the  members  of  the 
Christian  Church  throughout  our  land  shall  it  not  be  the 
application  of  the  principles  of  the  Golden  Rule  and  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount?  For  colored  and  white  men  alike 
everywhere  the  standard  is  “Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself.” 


